Who will start at QB for Sooners?
Who will replace Baker Mayfield? Kyler Murray or Austin Kendall hope to provide an answer by the end of spring practice, which begins Saturday in Norman.
NORMAN — For our last installment of the spring preview series, we’ll take a look the race between Austin Kendall and Kyler Murray.
Oklahoma begins spring practice Saturday, kicking off the battle to replace quarterback Baker Mayfield.
While Lincoln Riley’s final decision likely won’t be made until the fall, the spring season will offer each contender a chance to separate himself before incoming freshman Tanner
Mordecai arrives in the summer.
“We’ve told them all, look, it’s not going to be a sprint, it’s going to be a marathon,” Riley said. “We’re lucky in the way we practice, we’re going to get a lot of reps. We can get a good look at these guys through spring, how they progress into summer and then into camp.
“It’s going to be a lot of fun, having guys that have been in this system for multiple years, been in the meeting room with me for multiple years. I’ve got a lot of confidence in them. They are ready to compete. They all feel like this is their time, like they should. It’s going to be a fun battle.” Scholarship players lost: Baker Mayfield Scholarship players returning: Austin Kendall, Kyler Murray Newcomers: none
The case for Austin Kendall
Fresh off a redshirt season, Austin Kendall is ready to compete for the starting job. With a depleted quarterback room, Kendall spent his freshman season as Baker Mayfield’s backup.
With more available, quarterbacks during the 2017 season, including Kyler Murray, who became eligible after sitting out for his transfer season, Kendall was able to take a redshirt year and develop with the scout team. His efforts earned him a nod as one of the scout team offensive players of the year.
“Last year really benefited him,” Riley said. “He is the healthiest that he’s ever been. He’s in the best shape from a strength perspective that he’s ever been. And then just the value of day in and day out going against our defense every single day, being able to push himself off the field because he wasn’t saving up for a game. You just see a difference with the kid.”
At 6-foot-2, 220 pounds, Kendall is a bigger quarterback than Mayfield or Murray. As a pro-style quarterback, the North Carolina native doesn’t fit the same prototype as Mayfield and Murray. But Riley has plenty of experience developing a system for a pro-style quarterback, and he helped East Carolina pro-style quarterback Shane Carden throw for 4,736 yards and 30 touchdowns.
The case for Kyler Murray
As one of the most electric Texas high school football players, Murray’s been surrounded by palpable buzz since he announced his transfer to the Sooners from Texas A&M in December 2015. Murray never lost a game in his high school career and racked up 14,500 rushing and passing yards and 186 touchdowns in three varsity seasons.
After sitting out a year to comply with NCAA transfer rules, Murray acted as Mayfield’s backup throughout the 2017 season. He didn’t disappoint when he got his first Oklahoma career start against West Virginia in place of a temporarily suspended Mayfield.
On the first snap of OU’s 59-31 win, Murray faked the handoff and streaked through a hole on his right for a 66-yard gain. Running back Rodney Anderson finished off the drive on the next play with a short run into the end zone.
Like Mayfield, Murray is an undersized dual-threat quarterback, but he has an even faster motor than Mayfield. He also has similar arm strength and down-field vision. Against Tulane, Murray hit wide receiver Marquise Brown for an 87-yard touchdown late in the fourth quarter.
Though he’s competing for the starting quarterback job, Murray is splitting his time between the baseball and football team for the second spring in a row.